Observer News: 'Dragons' in our midst
'Dragons' in our midst
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Penny_Fletcher on 15/05/2010 02:50:27
By PENNY FLETCHER
penny@observernews.net
Green and brown anoles are the most common native species in Southwest
Florida but they are quickly being outnumbered by exotic species that are let go
by pet owners and breeders which is of concern to wildlife officers and
homeowners alike.
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission photo RIVERVIEW — The growing
problem of dangerous nonnative snakes in parts of Florida has made the news
several times during the past few months.
Wildlife officers say exotic reptiles sighted on the loose are usually abandoned
pets that became too large, or too dangerous, for their owners to handle.
Recently, Jane Lange of Summerfield and her daughter Vickie Howle of Riverview
had their own up-close-and-personal encounter, not with a snake, but with a
lizard large enough that at first they thought it was an alligator.
Not the common green or brown anoles, which are plentiful all over South County
and can be easily recognized by their long, skinny tails and brightly-colored
expanding throats, this dragon-like creature, native to Argentina, is reported
to have been between four and five feet long, including its tail.
“I’ve seen all kinds of lizards, and alligators on the golf courses, but
this one was different. I had never seen one like it before,” Jane said in an
interview following her encounter. “I got out of the car and started trying to
get a photograph of it, but I was nervous and first I shot up at the sky and
then down, but I finally did get a picture.”
Jane said the reptile was extremely fast, and made a strange noise, not like an
alligator or a snake, but a strange kind of hiss.
She was surprised that it stood still and stared at her for as long as it did,
but then when it did finally run away its tail was strong enough to knock over
some flowerpots in a neighbor’s yard as it zigzagged past them.
Robert and Jane Lange have been in Florida nearly 30 years and have never
seen a lizard like the one she recently spotted while driving with her daughter
Vickie Howle.
Penny Fletcher Photo Scott Hardin, exotic species coordinator for the Florida
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, based in its home office in
Tallahassee, says the department is aware of so many exotic lizards being
released in Florida that the ratio of native to nonnative is now 3-to-1.
“We know there are Tegus in the reclaimed scrub in the Riverview area,” he
said. “They’re omnivores (meaning they eat both plant and animal life). One
study showed the content of their stomachs to be almost two-thirds plant life,
with meat and fish only 20 percent.”
The photograph Jane took leads the experts to believe the lizard is a Tegu.
For several days, neighbors reported the animal darting between their houses and
feeding on their garbage. Because Jane and her husband Robert live in a
55-and-up area of Summerfield where homeowner’s association covenants specify
all dogs must be smaller than 40 pounds, they fear for the safety of pets left
outdoors.
“Rumor has it that a man finally captured it but we don’t know for sure,”
Jane said.
Even after coming close to several alligators while golfing and sighting them in
nearby ponds during the 30 years since they moved to Florida from Wisconsin,
this particular lizard still concerns them.
Jeanie Irwin of Summerfield has researched Tegu lizards extensively on the
Internet and learned that unlike most lizards, which are herbivores and eat only
plants, the Tegu poses a problem for pet owners because it is a meat eater and
has been known to go after dogs and cats as well as mice and other mammals.
Another Summerfield resident, Jeanie Irwin, researched the dragon-like Tegu
thoroughly on the Internet and found reports from the Southwest Florida Water
Management District that Tegus (the formal name is Tupinamibis merianae) have
become a problem not only in Hillsborough County but several other counties as
well.
“There was another one here in Summerfield not long ago,” said Jeanie. “I
think originally they were a pair.”
Jeanie wonders if someone in the area is breeding the Tegus because their skins
sell for a very high price; some as high as $2,500.
Captain John West, also in the Tallahassee FFWCC office, says owning exotic pets
(including nonnative lizards) without obtaining a permit is not against the law.
Only if someone exhibits or sells them do they need a permit, which costs $50 a
year no matter how many lizards someone owns.
“There are regulations on how they are kept and we do inspect once a year,”
Captain West said. “Large lizards like the one in the photograph require large
spaces, cages and access to pools of water.”
While it may not be illegal to own exotic reptiles as pets, people who are
caught releasing them into the wild can be charged up to $1,000 in fines and
spend a year in jail for doing so, Captain West said.